Seligman AZ – Slow Shutter Speed

We all need a respite of sorts. It could be an afternoon of shopping or a long trip. We we did some travel overseas, I didn’t have a good camera or the ability to take good photos. I keep saying I started photography 20 years too late!

The trip I chose for Rusha and Bert’s challenge is our Cross Country Trip in the summer of 2013. This was to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and took us 3 months. I could have traveled for 6 months, but Richard is not the traveler and was doing the driving.

I’ve always wanted to travel across the U.S., visiting as many National Parks as possible. So we headed out in our 5th wheel trailer and dog, Gem. Gem is a home body, preferring to be at his house and not anywhere else. Notice I said his house! He also doesn’t like the rumble of the diesel truck engine. I had also just bought my first DSLR a Nikon D3100 which also went with us.

We chose to get to the east coast via the southern route so we could visit my cousin in Plano Texas. Here are some places we visited.

If you’re traveling on Route 66 in Arizona, stop in at Seligman. It’s a delight.

We continued through Arizona and into Texas.

The crystalized logs in the **Petrified Forest National Park**

As I looked through my pictures, I realize how much I’ve learned since that trip and that I need to make the trip again!

One of our stops was Little Rock Arkansas so we could visit Beale Street in Memphis. We also stopped in Nashville.

This pizza restaurant was amazing. If they didn’t have the pizza you wanted, they would bake it and bring you the whole pie!

***The Great Smokey Mountains National Park***

Let’s jump up to Washington D.C. I really didn’t get good shots of what was important, but I did get a good shot of the Metro station!

Richard wanted to go to Times Square while we were visiting family in New York. We paid about $30. to park!

Now for Niagara Falls. How does a new photographer take a picture that’s different from all others taken so far. You can’t! But I was happy that I got all three falls in one picture!

We went as far north as Bar Harbor Maine. On our morning walk, Gem and I came upon a lobster fisherman unloading his baskets.

Let’s finish up with the USS Constitution in Boston and the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado (summit at 12,000 ft.).

There were many more highlights during our 3 month journey. I totally enjoyed it and would repeat it if given the opportunity. Thank you Rusha and Bert for this reminiscing challenge.

We’ve come to rely on the internet for so much, and we take it for granted–that is until you don’t have it!

I’m on the road again with my friend Alyse. This trip was set up 9 months ago; a long time before we decided to downsize and move. It was a week retrieval in a sense. I had lost a timeshare week with RCI because of Richard’s inability to travel for 3 years. I was able to recover all but this particular week. So, after paying extra to get it back and extend it, I invited Alyse to join me. There would be no saving the week again.

So that’s why I’m on the road so soon after moving. Yes, we did finally move! I left Richard with a huge mess. It’s hard to lose half a house. Oh, getting back to the internet, it’s very sporadic here at the Sedona Pines Resort in Sedona, Arizona. I’m hoping to get through this blog post.

We stopped at the Grand Canyon National Park for half a day during our trek to Sedona. I was there about 40 years ago with Richard and the kids. Of course, we saw more, but it was great to be there again. The memories of our family trip came flooding back. If you want to see more than just the rim drive, you need to hop on a bus. We didn’t have time for that, so we opted for the South Rim Drive. It was enough to give us a taste of how vast the Canyon is.

On our way, I stopped in Seligman, Arizona. Alyse had never seen this quaint little town with it’s Route 66 allure. I was saddened to see that some of the manikins were gone, but there was enough for her to enjoy.

My internet time may be getting slow so let’s get on with the pictures!